The Trenton Municipal Utility Committee is recommending the city council next Monday night, accept an agreement involving phase two of projects planned at the wastewater treatment plant. At last evening’s committee meeting, engineers from Burns and McDonnell of Kansas City gave a presentation on the design-build project.
The cost is not to exceed $4,900,000 and is largely paid for through certificates of participation, unused from a prior project, as well as a recently approved $2,400,000 loan.
This portion of the project includes construction of an effluent disinfection building and contact basin. It also requires a pump station that would allow excess lagoon water to be pumped to the contact basin and dispersed once it’s been disinfected. Concrete repairs also are planned to an existing sludge holding basin.
The efforts are designed to eliminate sewage bypassing the wastewater plant during wet weather periods; and to implement disinfection of the effluent discharge into Muddy Creek. Improvements are to be completed by a state-mandated compliance deadline one year from now, on July 1, 2019, with the Department of Natural Resources.
City Administrator/Utility Director Ron Urton also said the city council is expected to decide in the near future on whether to fund the head works portion of the project, roughly estimated by engineers to cost another one and a half million dollars.
Urton also spoke with utility committee members on the state allowing municipalities and other governmental agencies to have a cooperative purchasing arrangement for equipment, supplies, and services. Urton noted such a policy allows the city to save time and money when it comes to bidding on items it, and others are purchasing.
One upcoming example is a need to replace a wheel loader (tractor with a bucket on the front) for use at the Trenton asphalt plant. He indicated the cost can be negotiated with vendors participating via a state contract. Urton said the committee expressed support to resume using this portion of the city’s purchasing policy. Urton added purchase of the wheel loader has been included in this year’s TMU budget.
Attending the utility committee meeting were Travis Elbert, Dave Mlika, and Jennifer Hottes. Among others present were Councilman Larry Crawford, Mayor Nick McHargue, the TMU comptroller, department heads, and Urton.
